


Dark Money

by Cafe_Cannibal



Category: Dark Knight (2008), Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-19
Updated: 2012-10-12
Packaged: 2017-11-14 15:17:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/516739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cafe_Cannibal/pseuds/Cafe_Cannibal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce is recovering from his encounter with the Joker. Focusing on his business the last thing he expects is for Ciel Phantomhive to show up with a business proposition. How will Bruce react surrounded by 2 demons? And what is Ciel planning? CielxSeb AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He knew something was wrong as soon as he entered Master Bruce's room. It was noon, early morning hours for his Master. In the past year Bruce's schedule had been generally warped. Batman's schedule consisted of night hours ranging from 9 pm to the early morning light. Sleep was from dawn till Alfred woke him around noon with business or personal appearance in his down time. This morning Bruce was not in his bed. He stood at the door, slightly shocked. His master was nothing short of an angry teenager when it came to waking up, what could get him out of bed at this hour?  
"Morning Alfred," Bruce walked out of the bathroom, buttoning up his dress shirt. He was dressing in his nice suit, which meant he had already exercised and showered. He had no words. The awkward pause held in the air. He looked up from his buttons, "What is it Alfred."  
". . . Is there a pressing matter to attend to this morning Sir?" His legs made the first move; moving his body forward to place the breakfast tray down on the table.  
"No, just thought I'd get an early start today, that's all." Then something that nearly knocked him off his feet. Bruce smiled. Of course Bruce smiled, frequently. Their banter usually left them both in a cheerful mood. But this . . . this was the smile he reserved for the cameras. It wasn't right. It was the smile he used when he hid himself and his emotions.  
Taking a deep breath, he rebuilt his composure. "Well Sir, that's very productive of you. Is there anything I can help you with?"  
"No Alfred, I think I can dress myself." The smile was flashed again.  
"How are your wounds?" This brought the faintest of frowns, but a glance away and he would have missed it.  
"I'm fine Alfred. I'd think you were worried about me, and I've hardly done anything dangerous lately."  
"Well Sir, not to state the obvious but you were stabbed, shot, and fell down two stories last week. Most people may find that cumbersome. Here let me help you with that tie. Will you need me to drive you to town today Sir?"  
"No, I should be fine, I'll take the Lamborghini. Thank you Alfred." He grabbed a scone off the tray and walked out of the room still shrugging into his coat.  
Hmm, his senses had been right. Something was definitely wrong.

-

"Good Morning Lucius."  
"Good Morning Mr. Wayne. I'm surprised to see you here so early. How may I help you?"  
"Well, I came in early to discuss our current business dealings. I've been out of the loop lately; I need to invest more time in my business."  
"Even if that may be true, it's still unprecedented. What's this really about Bruce?"  
A smile, "Nothing, everything is fine. Plus we have a large business transaction happening tomorrow, right? Well l would like to know the details."  
" . . . Alright Bruce."  
"Common Lucius, this can't be that unusual."  
"Coming from the man who was pronounced dead for five years."  
"Yeah that was fun." The grin had been plastered to his face the whole time and it was starting to look unnatural on his face. Their friendship had grown since the incident with the sonar tracking system. It had been a leap of trust for both of the men to work with such a piece of equipment and for each to keep their end of the bargain. The time after that incident was a different matter. Alfred had told the press that Bruce had taken a trip to Spain to escape the danger of the city but the real truth was far less glamorous. 3 broken ribs, a close range shot to the abdomen, and severe bruises all over his body had kept Bruce in bed for a few weeks. He was forcibly kept there for longer than Bruce desired but Alfred's shock at seeing his wounds had silenced any of his protests. Lucius knew this first hand because other than Alfred, he was the only one let into the mansion and had been called upon for medical advice. He had only recently returned to his normal routine and even then . . . he and Alfred had noticed a difference in his personality. Something was strained.  
"Mr. Wayne your dedication to your business is commendable yet there isn't much to talk about. The general day to day matters are taken care of. Our stock is at its highest we've seen in years. There was a slight fall during the Joker incident but that's to be expected with the way it impacted local businesses. However since our company is global it was merely environmental factors that were an impact instead of a hit to our company's business image. We are up to $35 billion sales to our $31.3 billion from last year. We have made various contracts with the city of Gotham in the last year securing us as the number one business in power, water, metal, shipping, medical, and biotech. The company is secure." He tapped his pencil and looked at Bruce across the desk. Bruce just sat there with a smirk on his face. It was the first genuine emotion he had seen all day.  
"It seems like you're doing a good job."  
"Well, once in awhile I do something to earn the salary I receive."  
"I pay you?"  
"Yeah, quite a bit actually, but that's only because I decide my own salary. If you paid me, I probably wouldn't get anything."  
"I always knew you were a little underhanded in your dealings. It's nice to see your true colors Lucius." His smirk grew slightly and then drew back with his next question. "It seems our local holdings are doing well but what about military contracts."  
"We do some military contracts if we are contacted directly. Still, I only take on such business if it has anything to do with our productions at the moment and has enough monetary incentive to take on. Why?"  
"Well I'm only asking because if we start taking on more military contracts then perhaps creating a trading contract with this new company tomorrow would become very lucrative."  
"Dante Tech? It's possible." He thought about it a moment, thinking of the best way to express his opinion. "They're business does seem a bit shady though."  
"Have you known of a weapons manufacturer who wasn't?"  
"That's quite true. But I'm still not certain whether it would be a good business model for our company. We deal in local corporations first. Dealing with a questionable weapons manufacturer from Europe does not seem to be the best thing for this company."  
Bruce leaned forward and laced his fingers together and looked up with a hard stare. "I'm going to be straight with you Lucius. I have other intentions for going into business with Dante Tech. I've seen some of their weapons on the streets of Gotham already. They are getting their weapons into the country somehow and it seems to be coming through this city first. If we make a trade agreement with them we may be able to trace weapon sales into the country. He's going to sell them here one way or another; I'd rather know where they are going. Either out in the open or under the table so we can see who is buying the weapons. "  
"Even if we do that, the weapons coming into criminals hands will now say Wayne and Dante on them instead of just Dante. Can we drag our company name through that mud and still come out clean?"  
"Hopefully it won't go that far. We will make a trade agreement with the company as a front to resell the weapons to the government. With our port open to trade their business dealings will get sloppy and we will catch them selling shipments off the books. It won't take long for our deal to liquidate and Wayne Enterprise will simply lose another trade partner."  
Lucius looked at Wayne. It looked as if he had thought about this quite a bit. It seemed like a good plan. But the plan was one Batman would make up in order to trace weapon dealings. That was fine. Yet he wasn't the CEO of Batman but of Wayne Enterprises and that was his first priority.  
"Mr. Wayne you put me in charge of this company because you believed I knew what was right for it. I will continue to do that even if you don't agree with me. I think this deal would be tricky." Bruce nodded his head in agreement and looked at Lucius expecting something else. He gave it to him. "However, I will wait until the meeting tomorrow to see what Dante Tech brings to the table as far as leverage. They may not want to deal in weapons but something else. Either way, I'll make a final decision tomorrow about whether we go through with this or not."  
Bruce smiled and stood up. "Good. If a maybe is all I can get, I'll go with that. You are the CEO after all. Are you coming to the party tonight?"  
"Are you having another crazy get together tonight?"  
"You know Alfred, he just loves to through a good kegger. Actually it's a house warming party, finally finished."  
"Well as interesting as it may be, I'm going to have to pass. Have to be ready for tomorrow's deal."  
"Alfred will be sorry you missed it." He gave a portrait perfect smile and turned to leave. "Oh!" Bruce turned around and back tracked. "Would you mind sending an invitation to Dante Tech's CEO we are meeting with tomorrow. That way I may be able to charm him into better agreements for tomorrow."  
"I doubt that. But I'll send it, I'm sure he'll at least appreciate the sentiment. "  
"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow."  
"Try not to burn down this house."  
"I'll try not to." With that, Bruce walked out the door. Something was wrong with Bruce. He was sure of it now. Something right under the surface was bothering Bruce. Sighing and leaning back he tried to pick out what it was. When nothing came to him he turned back to his desk. At least Bruce was predictable. He only came in for five minutes and blew off the rest of the day's business dealings. Some things didn't change.

-

The darkness was comforting. He had grown used to it after being caught in time for so long. That pit of darkness was both claustrophobic and peaceful. Being out and hearing the noises of the city outside was liberating. A soft breeze swept across his face and the hand on his shoulder was expected.  
"Sebastion"  
"I received an invitation for you to a formal gathering at the Wayne Manor tonight. "  
He sat there silently. Things were moving forward nicely. That wasn't the only thing moving either. His eye twitched as both Sebastian's hands slide down his chest off his shoulders. "What do you think you're doing?"  
"I'm bored Ciel," warm breathe ghosted over his ear, "entertain me." He didn't need to look to see the smirk that formed on Sebastian's lips.  
"Sigh . . . bloody hell you've been spoiled. Get off me." He smacked the hands away.  
"Get things prepared for tonight. We want to make a good first impression." Standing he went over to the curtains drawn over the large windows. He pulled them back and looked down over Gotham City. "The game is about to begin. It's been far too long." Sebastian's arm slide across his chest as he nestled his head in the crook of his neck, "this is going to be fun." A dark chuckle rang throughout the room. Two pairs of blood red eyes looked hungrily over the city they had chosen to play with.


	2. Chapter 2

“BRUCE! So good to see you again! How are you? Didn’t I see a beautiful blonde on your arm last time I saw you? Where is she man?”  
“Bruce, you must speak with the Senator, he is such a conversationalist. Very interesting, you’d like him.”  
“Bruce, I know you like cars, with your collection and all. We must talk sometime about the new Bentleys being release. You have preordered one right? Course you have, gotta keep up with the times.”  
He hated this. Absolutely despised it, if there was anything he could do to get out of it he would. Sometimes it was fun. He knew they were human but he never thought humans were this manipulative.   
“Bruce, I just saw Justine, the Mycroft heiress, she’s very lovely. Spending this summer in the upper Gotham penthouses, you should introduce yourself.”  
“My dear lady, and here I thought you were the loveliest lady in the room.”  
“Oh, you’re such a tease.”  
“Never, I only speak the truth. But I would never deny you the opportunity to introduce me to Miss Justine.”  
“Yes, she really is a lovely girl, such poise. It really is hard to find a girl with admirable qualities these days. Horribly depressing we live in such uncivilized times.”  
“You are so right, terrible, absolutely terrible.”  
“It’s the public school systems; don’t teach anything of use these days. Most of the populace can barely read, can you believe it? I wish there was something to be done. Ah! There she is. Miss Justine!” An angelic blonde turned around to face them. Her eyes twinkled and there was a faint blush as she moved towards them. “Miss Justine, this is Bruce Wayne, Bruce, Justine.”   
“Hello,” she said. There was a perfect balance of shyness and confidence in the way she carried herself and offered her hand.  
Sigh, well this was really boring. He didn’t remember what happened. Who flattered who first, what was said. It was a good thing he liked Alfred or he would never throw these parties. As it was, Alfred insisted on having one at least once a month. He was too nice really. This was really all his fault, he gave Alfred free rein over this part of his life. Alfred always had the best ideas how to act and spend his money like a billionaire playboy would. So he let him plan get togethers, parties, meetings, interviews, photo shoots, appearances. All he really had to do was act. He didn’t like to brag or anything but he was very good at it. The flatteries and pleasantries came with no effort and he could disconnect himself from the situation, no problem. It was a good thing he could though, he wouldn’t be mentally able to put up with these people if he couldn’t disconnect himself from their nonsense chitter chatter. Meet this person Bruce, we must talk sometime Bruce, look at these investments Bruce, blah blah blah, GOD! It was enough to drive him mad. Another point, who were these people who thought they could call him by his first name. He didn’t know any of these people. Really. He could have spoken to them over a dozen times and it didn’t matter. All they wanted was his money, time, interest, or name. He wished there was someone richer than him, maybe then he wouldn’t be the flavor of the month anymore. Month, ha, year actually. God, he missed prison.   
He needed to clear his mind. Being cynical never helped anyone. He took a deep breath, letting it empty his brain of the dark thoughts. He liked to imagine his mind as a black cave. It was soothing. A faint whisper drifted through his thoughts. Rachel. The pain sling shotted him out of his peaceful trance and back to whatever conversation his auto pilot had gotten him into. Dammit.  
“The organized crime syndicate was the only thing keeping the criminals of this town in check. The police can’t handle it.”  
“The police just don’t have the man power, if they did –‘  
“If they did we’d be paying twice as much and see no new improvements. Without the mobs influence, the cops aren’t going to be getting any money on the side. Now who’s going to stop the police from forming their own crime circles. Trust me, it’s not going to be long before we see more stories about police brutality and cops pushing the justice system too far.”  
Ahhh, so they were talking about this again, how interesting. Something petted his arm. He looked down, then up. What was her name, Lydia? No, Jessica . . . Justine! She seemed to have slid her arm under his and he now seemed to be holding her arm. Standing in a wide circle around them were a few politicians and some other people he couldn’t recognize.   
“What do you think Bruce?” He looked back to the speaker. He couldn’t remember his name.  
“Weelll, I think the new commissioner, Gordon, right? Anyhow, he seems like a good guy. I bet with him in charge, the law enforcement of this city might have a good enough moral leader to set the police straight.”  
“We can only hope.”  
“He does seem reliable.” There were nods of approval all around.  
“We are putting a lot of trust in one person though, whether he can handle it is the question.”  
“Only time can answer that one.”  
“He can’t do any worse, last year this city had the highest crime rate in the country. We can only get better.”  
“I think he’ll do well, one of the first things he did as commissioner is get rid of that ridiculous light.”  
“The bat signal? Yeah, you can judge a cities education level by how ready they are to believe in stupid superstitions.”  
“Oh, he is real. Bruce was nice enough to invite him to the last party he hosted.” A chuckle of laughter wound its way around the circle.  
“He may be real but one man being able to protect an entire city is ridiculous, and look how it turned out.”  
“I always knew he was just a criminal.”  
“Not just a criminal but a psychopath. Dressing like that and running around, you can’t be right in the head.”  
“Hit the nail on the head there. Still haven’t made any arrests though have they.”  
“Guy was a deranged lunatic. Killing Harvey Dent and endangering half the city, I bet he was in league with the Joker the whole time.”  
There was some type of ringing in his ears and a tightness in his chest. What was this?  
“They were the same type of criminal, no doubt about that.”  
The smooth grin that was naturally part of this guise faltered. Something stung in that sentence, what was it? The Joker’s voice spoke up in his mind, “They need you right now, but when they don’t, they’ll cast you out, like a leper!” His chest tightened again.   
“The worst was how people idolized him, especially children. We shouldn’t let our youth be sucked into this, we need to show them real leaders like Dent. I never thought Batman was good enough.”  
“You see, their morals, their code, it’s a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They’re only as good as the world allows them to be.”  
“What do you think Bruce?”  
“Don’t talk like one of them! You’re not! Even if you’d like to be.” The tightness was moving up his neck making it hard to breath. Holding together his facial muscles in the way they should be was becoming hard, near impossible.   
“I’m sorry gentlemen, ladies, excuse me.” He squeezed what’s her face’s hand and walked away. Nearing the door, his pace quickened. The drink in his hand splashed. He pushed past some hired servants bringing in trays of food. His footsteps pounded with his heartbeat.”  
“Master Wayne?”   
Not now, God not now. Different things flew threw his mind. Images and words, none of it was important but the fact that he couldn’t name the people or places bothered him. Whose mind was this, none of it mattered yet each of the pictures stung.   
“Master Wayne!”  
He turned down the last corridor, finally reaching his room. Why did he come here again? He heard Alfred come to a stop behind him.  
“To them, you’re just a freak, like me!”  
Red covered his vision and he couldn’t stop himself from throwing the glass against the wall. The crash brought his mind back to his surroundings. He looked at the glass against the wall, then turned to Alfred standing in the doorway.   
“Is something wrong sir?”  
Was something wrong? I suppose there must be, normal, healthy people don’t break fine crystal against their wall. Sighing he sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands. “I don’t know Alfred.”  
“Hmm, are you feeling unwell?”  
“No . . . maybe.”  
“Sick?”  
“No, I’m not sick.”  
“Something is troubling you then?”  
“I guess you could say that.”  
“Ah! Well then, we’ll just have to fix that.”   
The silence stretched on for a minute before he looked up to his butler. “I lost control Alfred. I’m always in control of myself but I just couldn’t take it another minute. Something inside me, just couldn’t take it another minute. I’m just . . . tired.”  
“Hmmm, I thought this might happen.”  
“Did you? Why didn’t you tell me?”   
“A butler wouldn’t presume –“  
“To hell with that Alfred and you know that—“  
“Either way Master . . . maybe you need a break.”  
“From what, life? No Alfred, I’ll be fine.” He stood up and gave Alfred a smile, he had probably scared his poor friend enough today. “I’ll just go back to the party. Must perform my host duties, right?”  
“You don’t have to Master.”  
“I know Alfred . . . but I can’t stop now.” He headed out the door with Alfred following, back the way he had come.  
“I’ll have someone bring you out a drink of water.”  
“Thank you Alfred.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It had taken a minute to walk through the crowd, saying a friendly hello to a few before walking on. Jessica had made a grab for his arm again but a polite excuse me had fended her off. He stood on the balcony with his promised glass of water. He saw that Alfred had given him one of the cheap glasses, his own little punishment for breaking one of Alfred’s nice crystal stemware. Well really.   
On the other side of the glass doors Alfred was talking to someone. Luckily Alfred had taken point in fending off people who wanted to talk to him. He didn’t feel in the mood to put on fake pretenses. The door opened behind him and someone stepped through. He turned expecting Alfred but frowned in surprise at who stood before him.   
“Mr. Wayne, I’d like to introduce Ciel Phantomhive. CEO of Dante Technology.” The tall, dark man in front of him stepped aside, and if he thought he was surprised before then he was floored by who stood in front of him now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everyone who has been reading!  
> Please review! Leave any comments, questions or suggestions, I’d love to hear them! ^_^


End file.
